Jazz Articles
Our daily articles are carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. You can find more articles by searching our website, see what's trending on our popular articles page or read articles ahead of their published dates on our future articles page. Read our daily album reviews.
Sign in to customize your My Articles page —or— Filter Article Results
Mike Holober: Wish List
by Michael P. Gladstone
Wish List is pianist/composer/bandleader Mike Holober's third album, in addition to appearances in the piano chair for the Pete McGuiness Jazz Orchestra, the Jason Rigby Quartet, the Pete McCann Quintet and the Anita Brown Jazz Orchestra. Holober is a New York-based pianist who previously had worked with Nick Brignola's group and whose style has been influenced by such modal pianists as Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock.His first album, Canyon (Sons of Sound, 2003), was produced by another modal ...
read moreMike Holober: Wish List
by David Miller
The great thing about jazz is that you may think you know a lot about a lot, but in reality you don't know jack. It seems every time I pop in a new record, I learn about a new artist I've never heard before. In listening to Mike Holober's Wish List, I was lucky enough to learn about three: Holober, Tim Ries, and Wolfgang Muthspiel. Wish List is simple enough. It's a straight-ahead recording, with a track ...
read moreBob Sneider & Paul Hofman: Escapade
by Jerry D'Souza
Bob Sneider and Paul Hofmann called their first collaborative effort Interconnection," and that was an apt name, for the two showed that they had an affinity that resulted in some darned fine music. Though their second collaboration finds them concentrating on original material, they also look at standards, including a Nat Cole medley, and even add a twist of jazz to a classical tune.
Given their familiarity with each other, it is not surprising that the recording offers a cohesive ...
read moreBob Sneider and Paul Hofmann: Escapade
by Dan McClenaghan
The history of duo recordings boasts some standout pairings: Bill Evans and Jim Hall, Nat King" Cole and Oscar Moore, Chick Corea and Gary Burton, Stan Getz and Kenny Brown. Guitarist Bob Sneider and pianist Paul Hofmann approach the duo format with masterful technique and imagination on Escapade, a followup to Interconnection (Sons of Sound, '04).Sneider is a two-time winner of Down Beat's Outstanding Performance in Jazz Award and has performed with Chuck Mangione, Nat Adderley and Jon ...
read moreFred Wesley & The Swing 'N Jazz All-Stars: It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
by Suzanne Lorge
Charity golf tournaments raise millions--sometimes billions--in the name of giving back. Trombonist Fred Wesley uses a different kind of swing to make his contribution: His recent release as bandleader, It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, benefits The Commission Project (TCP), a nonprofit that supports various music education projects around the U.S. Wesley isn't alone in his humanitarianism; the CD spotlights the unique talents of eight other jazz masters--collectively, The Swing N' Jazz All-Stars--in an assortment ...
read moreBob Sneider and Joe Locke Film Noir Project: Fallen Angel
by Robert R. Calder
Very, very nice this one is, the absence of an overall noir atmosphere no cause for complaint. The project, under the leadership of Bob Sneider and Joe Locke, looks at the scores of cinematic works of the film noir genre, simply for material worth performing. Maybe somebody thought the genre might have occasioned unusual inspiration and produced themes of substantial jazz potential. Speculate if you like, and admire the considerable inventiveness of the arrangements.
There's something in the initial material. ...
read moreAnthony Branker & Ascent: Spirit Songs
by Ken Franckling
Primarily working outside of the major league jazz spotlight, but not far from it by any means, Anthony Branker is crafting some of today's finest compositions--and has assembled the sextet Ascent to bring them to musical life. Spirit Songs consists of tunes Branker has written since 1997, performed by a rather formidable unit: saxophonists Antonio Hart and Ralph Bowen, trombonist Clifford Adams, pianist Jonny King, bassist John Benitez and drummer Ralph Peterson. Branker heads the Jazz Studies ...
read moreThe Bob Sneider & Joe Locke Film Noir Project: Fallen Angel
by Jerry D'Souza
The dark, haunting world of film noir has returned to thrill viewers in a spate of releases on DVD in recent months. This Film Noir Project transposes that spell to music, capturing the essence of the themes that enhance the thrill of watching the films. Music, even in its darkest ambit, can be elevating. Bob Sneider and Joe Locke not only take soundtracks from classic movies, they also add some from films that fell flat on their face. But they ...
read moreThe Bob Sneider and Joe Locke Film Noir Project: Fallen Angel
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
This music is as subtle and nuanced as the shadows in an old black-and-white movie. Like the film noir that inspired it, Fallen Angel is romantic and jaded, beautiful and cynical, and full of longing and disappointment, all at the same time. The material is excellent: vibraphonist Joe Locke's Fallen Angel" and pianist Paul Hofmann's Last Kiss" blend seamlessly into the mood, while the arrangements ensure that the dark, velvety spell continues, regardless of tempo. There isn't a jarring note ...
read moreAnthony Branker & Ascent: Spirit Songs
by Robert R. Calder
This star of Spirit Song is Ralph Peterson, not on the trumpet he occasionally plays, but as a drummer who's as much in the front line as any hornman on the date, needing and finding as much inspiration and as many ideas as any horn soloist. Often he plays pretty well in duet with each of the soloists, but not intrusively. He knows what to do. Where a lesser percussionist would need to lay out, he can fit in beautifully ...
read more